1. Aquatic Biomes

2. 75% of the Earth's surface Freshwater – 2.5% Saltwater - Seas and Oceans - 97.5%

3. Freshwater - Rivers - Lakes - Wetlands Saltwater - Estuaries - Coral Reefs - Oceans and Seas

4. Rivers and Lakes Canada has millions of lakes (a half million in Quebec alone) and 900 000 km ² of freshwater. These are complex and fragile ecosystems that have been damaged by human actions (pollution, acid rain, eutrophication, human consumption). The vegetation around rivers and lakes helps to filter and clean the water that enters them.

5. A river and lake food chain

6. Wetlands

7. Swamps, Marshes and Peatbogs have an important ecological role. Wetlands are a transitional stage between terrestrial biomes and aquatic. They are often flooded from rain or seasonal run-off. Wetlands tend to be very rich in nutrients and life. Water flowing through wetlands is filtered and purified when it leaves the area.

9. Marine Biomes (saltwater) Estuaries A unique ecosystem that forms at the mouth of a river that drains into an ocean. This is a rich ecosystem that receives much nutritious sediment from the river water. This makes the water slightly cloudy or 'turbid'. Species that can live in salt and freshwater can be found here.

10. A transitional environment that can contain different biomes, spanning terrestrial through wetland to aquatic, and from fresh through 'brackish' to salt water.

12. An estuary food web

13. The Ocean Biome This is the world's largest biome and is actually many different biomes including Inter-tidal zone – the ever-changing biome at the shore. Pelagic zone – the open waters of the ocean Benthic zone – the Ocean floor Abyssal zone – deepest ocean

14. A marine food-web

15. Coral Reefs This is a very special type of ecosystem that develops around colonies of coral, which is a tiny animal that builds durable structures called coral reefs. They hold 25% of marine species despite representing only 0.1% of the oceans. Coral reefs are called the 'rainforest‘ of the ocean, and are similarly vulnerable to humans.

17. The damage Humans have done Because of over-fishing, dumping, global warming, thermal and chemical pollution there areas in the ocean where life has been wiped out. For example, drag nets scrape all life from the ocean floor. This rich ecosystem is called ‘benthos’. Much of what is taken is simply discarded.